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In Depth

A new report detailing the human rights abuses in West Papua has been published this week. The research aims to convince Pacific leaders on providing full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Sept. 14, 2016) – The last time filmmaker Bob Connolly was in the Papua New Guinea Highlands, he was caught up in one of the bloodiest tribal wars in the region's history. That was 25 years ago. Now, Connolly has returned to the Highlands to catch up with the key characters from his award-winning trilogy of documentaries centred on the Leahy family, made with his late partner Robin Anderson in the 1980s and 90s.

My house is full of souvenirs from our years in the PNG Highlands, among them arrow-pitted shields, gold lipped pearlshells from a moka ceremony and a black palm bow I no longer have the strength to draw back.

But the souvenir that means most to me has sadly disappeared, lost a decade ago when my attic became an upstairs bedroom for my two daughters.

It was a nondescript piece of cane, twisted in the shape of a figure eight, about the size of a...

Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama used what would normally have been a bland official speech in Suva earlier this month to bluntly air continuing grievances over the policies of the region’s key powers, directing his remarks to his visiting New Zealand counterpart John Key. The diplomatic strains are a sign of unresolved and deepening geostrategic tensions in the Pacific. Australia and New Zealand are determined to ensure their continued regional dominance as part of the US-led drive to counter growing Chinese influence and prepare for war.

A new World Bank report says careful and sustainable planning around emerging tourism markets could help Pacific Island countries gain as much as US$1.8 billion per year in additional revenues and create up to 128,000 additional jobs by 2040. The Pacific Possible: Tourism report, which was released for public comment today at the annual board meeting of the South Pacific Tourism Organisation, outlines a plan for long-term, balanced and manageable tourism growth to the year 2040. The report recommends four key strategy areas for attention: improving international transport links to the region; attracting higher-spending tourists; improved public sector engagement; and improving linkages between tourism and local economies.

The Matai system, alienation of land and religious customs are three aspects of the fa’a Samoa, that American Samoa and Congresswoman Aumua Amata cited as reasons in their joint brief calling on the Supreme Court of the United States to deny a petition by the five plaintiffs in the citizenship lawsuit for the highest court in the nation to hear the merits of their lawsuit against the US State Department and senior State Department officials.

Guam YTK could soon get paid $14 million by the government-run port in connection with the lease dispute. An arbitration panel awarded YTK that amount in April for alleged breach of the lease terms, even though the port had terminated the lease for non-payment.

It's been 100 years since the end of Fiji's indentured labour system, which saw thousands of Indians arrive to work in the country's sugar plantations. The government has refused a call to mark the centenary, saying the best tribute to the hard-working men and women is that their descendants were now known as "Fijian". But using the word "Fijian" to describe all in Fiji was still a touchy subject.

Published Samoan author Sia Figiel is currently in cheese country, on her way to Washington DC to advocate for “Walk the Talk” which raises much needed awareness for two problems that greatly affect the global population, especially Samoans: obesity and diabetes. Sia is being hosted in Wisconsin by fellow female Samoan writer Lynn Pulou Alaimalo, whose husband SFC Christopher Uperesa Alaimalo of Vatia and Auasi is stationed at Fort McCoy. Among other things, Sia is also promoting the release of her newest book “Free Love”.

There is an independence push that could see the break-up of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the North Pacific. The move, which claims more than 50 per cent support to end 30 years of nationhood, is coming from some of the leaders of Chuuk, one of four island states that make up the FSM. In the decades since Micronesian nations such as the FSM, Palau and the Marshall Islands became independent, the North Pacific has been largely peaceful and politically stable, compared to the coups and ethnic conflicts in the South Pacific on Bougainville, the Solomon Islands and Fiji.

MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Oct. 30, 2015) – The government of the small island nation of Nauru recently made some promises about implementing more relaxed arrangements for the housing of asylum seekers and faster processing of their claims.

On October 5, 2015, independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie responded to what he called the "never-ending madness" on Nauru, stating that "[the] Republic of Nauru is virtually a failed state ...".

Experts considered Somalia in the 1990s to be a failed state and some of them have argued that third party countries can legally intervene into the affairs of 'failed states'.

But as difficult as things may be on Nauru, are they really that bad? ABC Fact Check takes a closer look.

What do the politicians say?

ABC Fact Check contacted Mr Wilkie to ask him what he understood to be the criteria for a "failed state" and why he believed Nauru was "virtually" one.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.